Gulley for pocket billiard tables



Dec. 28 19%. 1,612,181 Y T. DROST ET AL GULLEY FOR POCKET BILLIARD TABLES Filed May 31, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Dec. 28 1926.

' LGIZJM ,T. DROST ET AL GULLEY FOR POCKET BILLIARD TABLES Filed May 51, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 28, 1926.

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THOMAS DROST, OI" ELMH'URST, AND SOLOM-AN SILVERIVIAN, OF NEN YCR'K', N. Y.., AS-

SIGNORS 'lOv THE BRUNSbVICK-BALKE-OOLLENDIER CGMPAN'Y, OF WILMENGTON,

DELAWARE, A CORPORATION 035 DELAWARE.

GU-LLEY FOB, POCKET IBILLIARD TABLE8.

Application filed May 31,

This invention. relates, to pocket billiard tables, and itsobject is, primarily. to provide a novel system of'gulleys for receiving the balls from the pockets and for delivering them to a conveniently disposed receptacle at one end of the table in which, they are collected during a game.

The invention also; has for its object. to eliminate the liability ofballs jamming in the gulleys and; to facilitate the delivery of the balls to; the receptacle by providing a separate and independent, gulley for each of the pockets through which theballs may roll freely, quietly and easily to the receptaclei Another important object of the invention is to provide a system of gulleysof inexpensive but substantial material which can be easily made and fitted and. as easily replaced whenever. occasion; requires.

Another obj ectofi' the invention is to provide a system of; gulleys ini which, the gubleys for corresponding pockets are inter changeable whereby the assembly or. repair of gulleysis greatly facilitated;

Another object of theinvention is to, provide a. system of gulleys constructed of interchangeable parts which simplify and facilitate the installation, and replacement when necessary, of the various tubes the uniformity in length andz-construction. of the tubes: making them available for. use and substitution on tables of varying designs and construction of framework.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a selected embodiment of the invention Fig. 1. illustrates a skeleton frame for a table with the gulleys embodied therein in their proper relation.

Fig. 2 is av sectional view on the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is detail enlarged view of'a pocket at a corner adjacent the ball receptacle;

Fig. is a similar view of a side pocket;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of a corner pocket at a corner distant from the ball receptacle, and Y 1923. Serial No. 642,680.

Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating the construction of the receptacle which receives the balls from the gulleysi We have not considered it necessaryto illustrate the complete table because tables vary in size and construction and so far as we are aware, our invention is adaptable to all kinds of pocket billiard tables.

Referring to the drawings. the frame t is provided; with grooves 5 at the corners at one end and with grooves 6'at the other endfor the usualcorner pockets and with grooves 7, at the sides for the usual; side pockets. The corner grooves are angularly disposed in the usual manner and the side grooves are slightly inclinedtowards the end= of the table which is, provided With; a

receptacle 8 to receive the balls from all of the pockets.

Straight, tubes 9-9 are connected to the grooves at the end of the table farthest from the receptacle 8 and these tubes are supported upon and discharge into said recep tacle. Straight tubes1.01 0arge connected to thesidegrooves 7.Z and: discharge into the receptacle alongside of the tubes 99; Tubes 1l-11 curvedat 12; between their endsare connected to the corner grooves at the-receptacle-end:of the table and discharge into the receptacle adjacent the tubes 10. Ilhe discharge ends of. the tubes are arranged in parallel: relation, the ends of tubes 9-9 being located side by side at the center, the

ends of tubes 10-10 being located beside the tubes 99 and the ends of tubes 11-11. being located; beside the tubes 10-10, and all of said discharge ends are supported on the rear wall 13 of the receptacle which is jiirovided with an inclined bottomv 14 to direct the balls to the forward part of the receptacle which projects beyond the end of the table or is otherwise conveniently located. so that access thereto may be had for removing the balls. The discharge ends of the tubes are heldfirmly and rigidly in their positions with respect to the receptacle 8 by means of a lid 23fwhich is detachably V and held in place by the block 16.

secured to the receptacle by a plurality of hooks 24:.

The tubes are preferably made of paperboard and by this term we include pasteboard and fiberboard of sufficient strength for the purpose. We have found in practice that paper-board forms an admirable material for the pocket billiard table gulleys because it can be easily cut to form and size and installed in place. These tubes will exclude dust, they reduce noise of the rolling balls to a minimum and they are light and comparatively inexpensive. WVe have also found that the inclination of the tubes when installed in a standard table is suflicient to make the balls roll easily and swiftly to the receptacle and since they are separate and independent of each other there is no opportunity for balls to jam in the gulleys.

The gulleys for corresponding pockets are interchangeable, that is to say, the two gulleys 9 are identical in length and end shape and they can be used interchangeably. The same is true of the two gulleys 10 and also of the two gulleys 12. This simplifies the construction and assembly or repair or re placement of'the gulleys and reduces the cost thereof.

Each corner groove 5 is preferably provided at its inner end with a block or abutment 15 located at the farthest end of the groove to direct the ball into the gulley 9 which is supported at its end on the frarpe T 10 groove 5 and the abutment are preferably covered with felt to reduce noise of the ball engaging therewith. A block or abutment 17 is located at the inner end of the groove 7 and this groove and block are also lined with felt to reduce noise. The block is located to direct the ball into the ulley 10 which is held in place by the block 18. The groove 6 is turned at an angle at its inner end 19 to direct the ball into gulley 11 and this groove is also lined with felt to reduce noise and the gulley is held in place by a block 20. Ne have found that this is a simple and effective means for securing the several gulleys in place and that when the gulleys are cutto the proper length they can be readily assembled in place Without fitting or adjustment. To prevent the curved gulleys 11 from becoming displaced by reason of the impact of the ball We prefer J to provide a removable cross bar 21 which is held in place by blocks 22 on the frame and against the curved parts 12 of these gulleys 11 whereby the gulleys are held in their proper positions.

The tubes can be withdrawn and replaced at any time without taking off the bed and rails, as it is only necessary to loosen the hooks 2 1 at the sides of the receptacle 8 and to remove the detachable lid After the lid has been removed, no difficulty will be out departing from our invention to adapt the invention to tables of different sizes and makes and we reserve the right to make all such changes as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A pocket billiard table comprising a frame having corner and side pocket grooves, a receptacle at one end of the frame, a pair of straight tubular gulleys connected With the grooves at that end of the table opposite to the receptacle and discharging into the receptacle, a pair of straight tubular gulleys connected to the side grooves and discharging into the receptacle, and a pair of curved tubular gulleys connected to the grooves at the receptacle end of the table and discharging into the receptacle.

2. A pocket billiard table comprising a frame having corner pocket grooves, a receptacle to receive the balls, independent tubular gulleys connected to said grooves and discharging into said receptacle, and abutments in the grooves to direct the balls into the ends of the gulleys.

3. A pocket billiard table comprising a frame having inclined side pocket grooves, a receptacle to receive the balls, separate and independent tubula'ir gulleys connected to said grooves and discharging into said receptacle, and abutments in the grooves to guide the balls into said gulleys.

4. A pocket billard table comprising a frame having corner pocket grooves at one end thereof, a receptacle at that end of the frame to receive the balls, separate and independent curved tubular gulleys connected to said grooves and discharging into said receptacle, and a cross bar engaged with the frame and with said gulleys to hold the gulleys in place.

5. A pocket billiard table comprising a frame, a receptacle at one end of the frame, a plurality of gulleys for conveying the balls to the receptacle, means secured to the frame for holding the discharge ends of the gulleys in place with respect to the receptacle, and means for detachingsaid holding means.

6. A pocket billiard table comprising a frame, a receptacle at one end of the frame, a plurality of gulleys for conveying the balls to the receptacle, and a lid detachably secured to the receptacle for holding the discharge ends of the gulleys in operative position relative to the receptacle.

7. A pocket billiard table comprising a frame corner and side pocket grooves formed in the frame, a receptacle at one end of said table, separate and independent gulleys lead- .ing from said grooves to said receptacle, and means to support each gulley detachably at the end Where it meets a groove, said recepto support each gulley at the end Where it tacle supporting the other end of each of meets a groove, said receptacle supporting 10 said gulleys. the other end of each of said gulleys, and

8. A pocket billiard table comprising a means for detachably securing said last 7 frame having corner and side pocketgrooves, named end of each of said gulleys to said a receptacle at one end of said table and receptacle. separate and independent gulleys leading THOMAS DROST. from said grooves to said receptacle means SOLOMAN SILVERMAN. 

